Dark Hearts
by purple halo
Summary: One hundred years ago a witch was burnt at the stake for commiting a terrible crime, but she didn't die like the Night People thought she did. Today she still lives on with one thought on her mind. Revenge. R&R people.
1. Chapter 1

_Salem, 1692 – The Burning Times_

_Try to break my heart? Well it's broke._

_Try to hang me high? Well I'm choked._

_Want it to rain on me? Well I'm soaked...Soaked to the skin._

_It's the end where I begin._

The old yellow pages were stiff and crumbling in her fingers. The spidery writing of a witch long lost, faded to a dull violet, almost unreadable in the dull light of the candle, its flames dancing over the walls. She glanced at the clock; it was five minutes to the witching hour...five minutes until they arrived to take her away. She read the last page, desperately trying to translate the language of the old and find the answer to what she was looking for in the final lines. Everything they'd done was balancing on a knife edge, if she failed all would be lost; forever.

Her eyes danced across the page as the clock sounded to mark every passing second. Time was running out. Then the answer to her question leapt out at her: how to kill a dragon. A cruel smile twisted her features, she'd found the key to unlock the future and it lay in her fingers. She re-read the passage again, making sure she had gotten every word correct and that every sentence was burned into her mind.

She whispered the words and felt them put magic in the air as they rolled off her tongue. Satisfied that she'd learnt the words of the most important spell of her life, she picked up the candle with shaking fingers. She bowed the flame down to kiss the old musty pages she held in her other hand until the fire caught on and spread rapidly up the page, licking up the important scriptures like a starving dog. The pages blackened, curling up like clawed hands before disintegrating into oblivion.

She waited until she could feel the intense warmth of the fire on her fingers and all that was left of the most essential Night World volumes was a pile of ash before blowing out the flame and plunging it into darkness. No sooner had the flame extinguished did she hear the toll of the clock signalling midnight, as if from far away. _One. Two. Three. _Between the strikes of the clock she heard the resonance of footsteps, the sound of armed men drawing closer to come and kill her. _Four. Five. Six. _The footsteps were getting louder, the people coming nearer. She was supposed to feel scared now, she'd read it in books and seen it in movies but there was nothing there. She felt nothing. _Seven. Eight. Nine. _She turned to face the door, knowing there was no point in hiding; that would only make it worse when they sniffed her out of her hiding place. _Ten. Eleven. Twelve. _She couldn't stop her scornful laughter from slipping out as several armed men burst into the room. The first two were vampires, followed by several shape shifters and a werewolf. But even if they were the most powerful Night People in history they were still too late. She'd destroyed their most important documents.

They swarmed around her and tied her up while she stood motionless in the centre of the room. They could take away everything she had but they couldn't undo the past or take away her pride. Her task was complete.

She tossed her hair as the men led her out of the room and closer to her death, but none of it mattered, she'd completed her task; the pages were no more than a pile of ash and she was the only one who knew their content. The apocalypse was close at hand.

X-X-X-X-X

The guards walked her towards her death but still she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she wasn't going to die. But that was inevitable...right? She felt the magic stroke her fingertips as the guards led her forward through the crowd of shape shifters hungry for revenge and into a horribly open space.

The loud shouting died down as the crowd caught sight of her. Normally this was the time when every Night Person would stare at her with wide eyes full of admiration or jealousy; instead there was a hiss, as if someone had suddenly thrown a jug of water over a fire, which steadily grew louder until the shape shifters words became a deafening roar. _Kill the witch._

It floated up to her as if she was far away, or underwater. The guards led her forward, towards a towering pile of wood...and to the stake sat at the top of it, a menace reminding her that the end was nigh. As the guards wrestled her up the mountain of crisp wood, she felt the first trickle of fear slide down her spine like icy needles. She stumbled and there was a cry of laughter. She took a deep breath, trying to keep calm despite her impending doom. _I will not panic, _she chanted as she was guided higher and higher up the mountain of firewood, the slope was evening out now, a sign that she was near the top.

She closed her eyes as her rough handlers pushed her forward. She felt the bark of the stake and her stomach dropped. Her eyes snapped open and she let panic take over as she struggled desperately to live, but she felt like a lamb surrounded by a pack of wolves. She was helpless. Two shape shifters wrestled her back against the stake as the vampires tied her.

Another bout of laughter floated up to her as her audience watched her being forced into submission. Then the hands were suddenly gone, and she was alone on her wooden mountain. Surrounded by people who hated her, ruthlessly tied to the stake, there was no hope of evading her upcoming death; she was forced to wait for the slow burn of the fire to snag her. They had stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth so that she wouldn't be able to chant a spell to save herself or curse the people who did this to her.

_I won't forget this, _she vowed as she heard the distant crackle of fire and acrid smoke drifted around her. _Even if it takes me a thousand years I will get my revenge. _ The fire had caught on quickly, it was roaring around her, she could only see the crowd briefly now, through the flames as they danced and leapt in front of her. She caught a glance of an angry pair of eyes and then a mouth twisted in cruel delight before everything was lost to the smoke and the fire licking the wood beneath her. The heat was unbearable; it scorched her skin to the point where even though the flames weren't stroking her skin it felt as if she was on fire. The smoke choked her and she felt a stinging sensation making her eyes want to water, but no tears slid down her cheeks. She _would __**not **_cry.

She heard a cheer, quiet compared to the roar of the flame as her hair caught fire. She could smell it in the air and then she felt it singe her scalp. She couldn't bite back the tears of agony now, she fought the panic rising in her but it didn't stop the scream leaving her lips.

It was a scream of sheer suffering. She had _never _screamed like that in her entire life. Once she started, she couldn't stop, she felt sick. _When would this be over? _ She jerked backwards and forwards on the stake, desperately trying to escape, a kind of feral terror had taken over her. She was gasping with pain now, how could she be in _this much pain_ and not be dead?

She screamed again, the torture was never ending; she had no idea how long she had endured this. Her throat was sore from screaming for so long but she couldn't seem to stop. She wasn't aware of her audience any more; the consuming pain was dominating all conscious thought. The flames were all around her, they'd burned almost everywhere she could imagine, she was blind in one eye now and her face was so grotesquely burnt that she was quite sure that she was unrecognisable.

Then she saw something that made her panic even more. Darkness was swarming around the edges of her vision. _Am I dying? _The thought suddenly burst to the fore of her mind. She noticed dimly that she was no longer screaming and then she realised it was because she couldn't feel her body. She was dying. Panic overwhelmed her as she considered what that would entail, what was there after death. Heaven? Hell? Before she could calm her thoughts darkness swarmed in, bringing a blissful coolness with it.

X-X-X-X-X

Ivy awoke with a gasp and sucked in several deep breaths of air. Everything hurt. She opened her eyes, a blurry mass of colours swarmed in front of her before everything sharpened as her eyes adjusted. She was in a house, not her own but a strangers, she could detect the faint smell of incense. _Where am I?_ She asked herself, Ivy forced herself to think but it was hard to concentrate for some reason. She felt as if a memory was nagging at the back of her mind desperate to be remembered, but whenever she focused on it, it slipped from her fingers like water.

She was lying on a straw mattress, gazing up into shadows that lingered high above her, there was a dim glow coming from somewhere to her right and a cool draught creeping over her skin from behind her. Where was she? Her heightened sense of hearing helped her to explore her surroundings without moving her body. She didn't think she was strong enough yet.

Ivy flinched as the sound of footsteps alerted her to the presence of another. She turned her head automatically to face the intruder, regretting it instantly as pain shot up her neck from the simple movement.

"I see that you are awake now," a detached female voice drifted into the room from the door way with a tone that could only be described as sounding elemental, footsteps came closer and Ivy caught sight of glossy auburn hair and smoky blue grey eyes that were cold and impersonal, as if she were afraid to let anyone get to know the real her. The woman looked about the same age as her, in her early twenties at most but her eyes gave Ivy the impression she was a lot older, it could have been because she was very accomplished but Ivy got the impression it was something else...something supernatural.

"Who are you?"

"I see you are a polite one," she remarked dryly, "As for whom I am, it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean, 'it doesn't matter'?" she barked, " I woke up on a straw mattress in a strange house, when I move I'm in immense pain for reasons beyond me and when I ask _one _question the only answer I get is 'it doesn't matter'."

Ivy made to sit up again when a cool hand stopped her. "Get. Off. Me." she said venomously, patience wasn't one of her virtues and right now anger was bubbling through her.

"I wouldn't move yet if I were you, coming back from the dead is very..." she paused searching for the correct wording, "strenuous... on the body."

"I came back from the _dead_?" Her heart was suddenly thumping uncomfortably in her throat. Surely this person's crazy, it _isn't _possible to come back from the dead. "You're crazy."

"No. I'm not," she leaned over Ivy, so close that her auburn hair tickled her face and her eyes demanded that they met hers, "You died. Last night in a fire, remember? You were burnt to death in front of all the shape shifters in the city."

Ivy flinched as the memories began to come back to her but the woman went on relentlessly.

"I watched you as you slowly changed from a naive little girl who thought she could escape from everything to a corpse. Then I stole your body from the morgue before it was buried and you would be lost forever. Do you believe me now, Ivy?"

She glared up at the woman as she nodded, unwillingly letting herself fall into submission.

"Why have you done this to me?" Ivy's voice came out in a strangled whisper. This _could not _be happening. _Please, please,pleaseplease tell me this is all a joke, _she silently begged. But the look in her comrade's eyes told her it was the truth.

"You're a powerful witch, Ivy, you're not a Harman but you are far more powerful." She turned away to face a wooden desk and shuffled papers searching for the right ones. When she turned back there was excitement gleaming in her eyes. She handed Ivy pages covered in writing that could have been elegant if it was not so cramped. Ivy looked down at them and felt a frown crease her forehead.

"What are these?" she whispered frantically looking at the sheets for the answers she needed. It didn't make any sense. Riddles were scrawled along with obscure designs and diagrams of what was supposedly her future.

The woman must have mistaken my desperate tone for excitement because she continued on with unconcealed enthusiasm, "Prophecies, they're older than any in the Night World records and they mention _you_. Now you know why I could not let you die. You never can leave the realm of the living, you're too important."

Ivy sat up then, and looked at her sharply as she processed everything. She could never die, so what was she? She knew she wasn't a vampire, they were weak after transformation, Ivy felt stronger than she'd ever felt before.

"What am I?" she whispered her voice not as steady as she hoped.

"You are a witch," said the lady, "as before."

"So I can age and have children with no problems?"

"Yes, but you will need to be more cautious. The shape shifters will not forget this for a long time, if they have the slightest suspicion about you, they will hunt you down. You can have as many children as you want but I wouldn't advise it, you'll draw attention to yourself and when they won't live forever like you. You'll need to use glamour for a while so you won't be recognised and I'd change your name if I were you too. Be careful every October on the 29th, it's the date you died and you will have to relive the pain you suffered the first time you died, it will be more powerful on certain years...After you die you will be reborn on All Hallows Eve, that's the date today, but your body will have changed to how it was as you are now. During that time you-"

"Stop!" Ivy screamed, she was panicking now, her life had been perfect. She felt like she owned the world and now this had happened. She'd died and she'd come back to life, and she would do so until the world ceased to exist. She sat in silence with this witch that had done this to her. "You cursed me..." Ivy whispered quietly.

"No. I blessed you, it's a gift that so many people wish for, so many people would give their soul for the chance to live forever and you get it for free. Can't you see how lucky you are?" The lady had seen her mistake in going on for so long with the details and now she was desperately trying to calm her down.

"I _didn't _want this! I don't want to live forever. I don't care how many people want this, I _DON'T!"_

"Please, you don't understand. I can help you."

"I need to go." Ivy whispered. She pictured the rolling hills in the country, the bitter taste in the air as she approached the sea. She had to leave. Ivy leapt off the table, ignoring the shooting pain that attacked her body and grabbed a long red velvet cloak and drew it around her. She cast a glamour around her and ran from the room.

"Where are you going?" called the witch.

"Away, I can't stay here!" she yelled over her shoulder as she retreated into the shadows. She grabbed a sleek black stallion and mounted it before urging it into a gallop. The sound of a horse's hooves thundered down the dirt trail as she disappeared into the night.

_Try to break my heart? Well it's broke._

_Try to hang me high? Well I'm choked._

_Want it to rain on me? Well I'm soaked...Soaked to the skin._

_It's the end where I begin._

**A/N: thx for reading XD so what did you think? Love it? Hate it? Want to burn it? I personally think I did ok but I want your opinion. Lyrics are from 'the end where I begin' by The Script. Plz click the awesome blue/green button and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm feeling out of bounds, out of bounds_

_I'm running out of time, out of time_

_I know there's no such thing as either of them_

_But it doesn't make me feel any better_

_Present Day - California_

Jack's POV

I was snapped out of my reverie as a door slammed somewhere in the deep recesses of the house. The nightmares that had chased me through the night had followed me into the day…again. It was always the same dream; the same nightmare every time, but it didn't mean that my heart had stopped twisting painfully as the final scenes replayed themselves in slow motion. The dream was real, the events had actually happened. It was slowly killing me because deep down I knew - if I had been brave, I could have changed the events. The dream or rather nightmare had recurred so often that it was as if it was branded into my memory, to the darkness that lived in my subconscious. I couldn't escape it. Nothing worked, I'd tried staying up all night, but then _she_ managed to appear during the day; I'd taken sleeping pills and trained my mind to lock away anything that could even trigger the memories. But she always slipped through the cracks, making my walls crumble at the memory of her touch. My lip began to quiver and the heat left my body.

I was cold; so cold. The reason for my being was gone and I could never be whole again. When she left, she ripped out my core and now I was just a hollow shell of my former self. The idea that somewhere out there people were happy seemed cruel to me. How could anyone be happy when I was so cold? The very idea of happiness was a distant memory, one I knew I could never feel the true effects of again.

I wandered over to the bathroom lost in thought; I was like a zombie. My body and mind were present, but my heart and soul were gone. I shook myself. It was the first day of school today, I needed a clear head. I was splashing cold water on my face when I felt hands on my back. At first I thought nothing of it, but then I knew. It was her. I stood up to my full height, slowly enough to ensure she wouldn't leave and kept my eyes firmly shut so as to enjoy her spell a little longer.

"Why are you here?" I asked her.

"What? No, 'how was your day in the afterlife?' or 'nice to see you again'?"

"Riley…" I interrupted her, wincing as I said her name. It made her seem so real, almost as if she were still here.

She continued on as if she hadn't heard me, "You know I really expect more from my _soulmate_, I mean you _stood there _and _watched me _die, you could at least show some interest in my afterlife."

My eyes snapped open at the harshness of her tone, but for once the warmth spreading from her hands didn't disappear. I turned and saw her standing there with her arms crossed like the day we'd first met. My heart squeezed so much it was as if it had been ripped out of my chest. But no matter how similar she looked, there was always something different, something wrong with the image my mind had conjured. This time it was her eyes. The hatred in them was the same as before but instead of the sparkling violet they had been when she was alive; they were a flat black, darker than the blackest night. I shivered. When had I become so troubled that I couldn't even enjoy the memories of a loved one?

Ivy's POV

I looked at the calendar blankly, my stomach twisting with fear. It was August 31st, two months till I had to go through hell again. My mouth went dry. _Two months, two months, twomonths twomonths,twomonthstwomonths. _I swallowed loudly as I repeated the words, hoping that if I said it enough it would lose its meaning.

I turned away abruptly and pulled some skinny jeans and a random shirt out of my wardrobe, trying to distract myself from the swirling abyss that had formed in the depths of my stomach. I had so much to do in so little time. I'd thought I'd have all the time in the world, I'd never thought the opportunity would come at the strangest of moments, when I was completely unprepared. But I couldn't miss this. Not this time. I couldn't fail again - it was vital that I got what I wanted and didn't let anything distract me. I'd been waiting for this moment for as long as I could remember.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, wishing I didn't have to always glamour myself. My black hair looked soft and sleek, like a raven's wing and seemed to hold rich jades and violets within its silky darkness, accentuating my pale skin and unique eyes. My eyes were the colour of molten gold and my favourite feature, the only part of me that held colour.

I sighed knowing that I was wasting time trying to put off the inevitable. If I didn't glamour myself I'd be discovered by Night World authorities and get killed for plotting against the council. You'd think that with time they'd forget what I'd done, obviously that would just be too easy. I concentrated for a second and focused on who I wanted to be, feeling myself grow shorter by a couple of inches and the hair that hung over my face like a curtain rearrange itself into a different style.

I opened my eyes and looked at my features with disgust. I looked too vulnerable. Long blonde hair hung lankly down either side of my head and large cerulean blue eyes stared out at me. I shook my head, appearances weren't important. _Revenge _was. Besides underneath all the glamour, I looked exactly the same as I had centuries ago. I smiled; it was a smile that only I ever saw, one where the hatred was visible underneath. All five centuries of it.

X-X-X-X-X

I looked up at the school building with mild disinterest. Vines which would presumably carry roses at some point in the year snaked up the side of the building and concealed the old brick work underneath. _Wow, this is my first day of school since…since the 1800s _I mused, as I stepped into the shadowy entrance hall spinning slowly around in a circle to take everything in. The smell of old wood was overpowering. Faded and threadbare green seats that had long lost their shape lined the far wall opposite a counter top running along the left side of the room, a stark contrast to the dark décor. I walked over to the secretary feigning nervousness, and coughed politely. The secretary looked up, her dark eyes slicing into me. There was a plaque on the desk stating that her name was Ms Blackthorn. I recognised the name instantly, she was a vampire.

I fought the urge to kill her on the spot or at the least narrow my eyes - no one could know what I was planning.

"Hi, I'm Violet Evergold," I said stiffly, using the name I'd picked when applying for the school, "I'm new here." I forced a smile and handed her my papers.

"Hello," she replied, obviously taking the frostiness of my voice for nerves. She skimmed over them quickly and then drummed a few things into her computer. "Transferring this year, huh? California must be very different from New York." She stated, her eyes flicking up to meet mine.

"Yeah," I was unwilling to talk to this leech.

"Why the sudden change?"

"My grandparents decided I needed a change of scenery to clear my head after my -" I broke off abruptly to make it more convincing and blinked away false tears, "a-after m-my p-p-parents d-died."

I could've won a Grammy award for that performance.

She rubbed reassuring circles into my left hand which was resting on her desk. I resisted the urge to curl my hand into a fist. "That must've been so hard for you."

I forced myself not to snarl at her, vampires were so fake these days, and just smiled amiably. She patted my hand again absentmindedly before grabbing a messy stack of papers from on top of her desk.

"Ok, here's your timetable, locker number and a form that you need to hand to each of your teachers. Your guide should be here soon. Take a seat whilst you wait."

I turned away and headed to the seats when she called me back. "Violet, if there's anything you need, I just want you to know, you can come to me."

I smiled and nodded, knowing that in reality there was no way in hell I was ever going to hold her to that.

I glanced down at my timetable for the week; Algebra I, Advanced Chemistry, English III, Drama, Spanish, AP World History and Art. I grimaced; today was going to be fun. _Not. _ I quickly scanned the rest of the timetable and saw that it followed suit. _Great._ I scowled and looked out the window; the only class that seemed vaguely interesting was History.

The tardy bell rang, making me jump and the last few students that had been loitering around in the car park rushed in, but there was still no sign of my guide. I grabbed my notebook and I-Pod from inside my bag, turning the music up loud before I began to doodle aimlessly on the front cover. Black swirling lines quickly sprang up from my biro in an intricate pattern that reminded me of the wrought iron gates that lined the circumference of the old manor house I had in France. I smiled, wishing I was there now, instead of here.

A couple of minutes later, someone sauntered in with the grace of a cat. It was the little things that gave him away; I could tell what he was from the inhuman fluidity of his movements as he slunk towards the reception desk, from the way he took everything in as he entered the room. He was a shapeshifter, and a powerful one at that. Just being in his presence made my stomach twist in fear, I hadn't been this close to one since I was- I broke that thought off, I couldn't think of such things now, not here where they would become a reality in only a few months. He had longish hair that was halfway between dark blonde and brown and golden green eyes that, Night Person or otherwise, I knew would make most girls knees go weak.

He leaned on the reception desk and asked something quietly and I looked back down at my notebook, immediately losing interest. A couple of moments later, a shadow fell across me. I looked up in confusion.

"Hi, I'm Cougar Drache, I'll be your guide for the day," he said, his voice had a soft lilt to it, despite his bored tone.

I got up in a movement that I made purposefully jerky and awkward, "Hi, I'm Violet."

I held my hand out for him to shake. He ignored it and turned to go back through the set of double doors, he'd just come through, glancing back once to see if I'd follow. _Rude much? _I snatched my bag from its spot on the floor and half ran to catch up with him, juggling my notebook, pens and papers in my hands, reaching the door just in time for it to slam in my face. I scowled; if this was how my day was beginning, it wasn't a good sign.

I shouldered my way through the doors, shoving the stuff in my hands into my bag, with excessive force barely concealing my irritation. I looked up to see an extremely amused Cougar watching me.

"What?" I snapped.

He smirked but didn't answer me. I scowled again and pushed my straw like hair back from my face. _How the hell did he manage to become a guide? _ I sifted through the papers the receptionist gave me, until I found my locker number and combination; number 352. I glanced at the locker next to me, a plaque on the front proclaimed it to be locker number 115. _Great_, they just had to give the poor, unsuspecting new kid the locker that was as far away from the main entrance as possible. I cast number 115 a dirty look, it didn't react and just continued to sit there taunting me.

I turned back to Cougar who currently looked as if he'd rather be anywhere than here.

"Do you know where locker 352 is?" I mumbled, wincing at how loud my voice was against the silence.

"Yeah."

I waited for a couple of seconds, but he said nothing more. I bit back my frustration. "Aren't you gonna tell me where it is?" _How slow could this guy get?_

He looked as if he was thinking about it for a few moments, then slowly he shook his head. I resisted the urge to launch myself at him and attack him, as my anger simmered. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth.

"Would it kill you to be nice to the new girl and do your job as a guide?"

He didn't respond, instead settling for taking a strip of gum from his pocket and popping it into his mouth. I scowled, something I was probably going to become famous for at this school, before turning and stalking down one of the many corridors that branched out from the main office.

I heard a muffled cuss, followed by the sound of steady footfalls. I proceeded to increase my pace.

"You're heading the wrong way," he called from somewhere behind me.

I froze, glancing at the lockers next to me. The numbers had indeed decreased in size. _Traitors. _I turned back to face Cougar who wasn't even a little breathless.

"It's this way," he said.

I hesitated, reluctant to give in and follow him after storming off. I considered my options, get lost, end up late to my next lesson and possibly get a detention or follow the crappest guide in history. I sighed, knowing that I would have to stay with Cougar for the time being and took a deep breath and focused on pushing my anger back so I could deal with it later.

I quickly got lost in the endless sea of lockers, lino floors and strip lights. Everything was the same shade of grey, the only colour coming from Cougar and I, the sole inhabitants of the halls. I swallowed, feeling uncomfortable and out of my depth in a strange modern world; everything was slightly off, not quite perfect. The lights were too bright and were placed at irregular intervals, the floor was too clean and the air was too still and hung in front of my face like a veil. It was choking me.

When I was at my wits end, we finally stopped. I glanced up to see locker number 352. I was so happy to see it I could've hugged it. I dropped my bag to the floor and began to fiddle with the lock. After a couple of moments it sprang open.

"What lessons do you have?"

I grabbed the slip of paper out of my bag and handed it to him before turning to dump my stuff in my locker. I slammed it shut and watched him closely, while he looked at my timetable, trying to take as much in as possible for later reference. My vision went out of focus as I thought. His likeness to the shapeshifters who'd captured me all those years ago was astonishing; I swallowed, forcing myself to think logically and not drown in a torrent of memories. He was a Drache and therefore one of the more powerful shapeshifters. More importantly, he was a direct descendant of my murderers. If I could do to him what those shapeshifters had done to me, it would be perfect.

He glanced up at me at that moment and our eyes locked, before his mouth twisted up into a cocky smile. I blushed in spite of myself as he glanced down at the papers again. He must have thought I was admiring him or something. I almost laughed. _If only he knew, _I thought, _if only he knew that soon he would have to worry about more than how his hair looked. _

"Okay great, we have all the same classes," he said with false enthusiasm, after a few moments of awkward silence.

I humoured him, saying something with just as much sugar coating and followed him through the halls as he led me to our first class. Neither of us spoke, the only sounds breaking the silence were the occasional murmur from one of the classes and the steady beat of our footsteps. I swallowed, wishing I could be anywhere else but here.

None of this was going to plan; I was supposed to enrol at a new school, get a _human_ guide, figure out the best way to approach my victim and then find the most efficient and painful way to dispose of them. I wasn't ready to deal with a shapeshifter, not yet.

"So, what brings you to the crappiest place in California?" Cougar asked, finally deciding to break the silence, his tone indicating that he didn't really care what I said.

I flinched and adopted a sad expression, looking away into the middle distance in a characteristically depressed way. I changed my voice to one filled with self-pity and regret as I told my story. Cougar winced.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Cougar's eyes softened a touch and for some reason I knew his sympathetic smile wasn't like the fake one the receptionist had given me earlier. It was genuine.

"Don't be, it's not like you had anything to do with it."

He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but the shrill ring of the school bell interrupted, making us both jump. Students flooded the halls around us as they hurried to get to their next lesson.

When I looked at him again, the kind and caring person I'd just spoken to had disappeared. He turned away abruptly and started heading back the way we came. I wondered what he was going to say.

"This way."

_I'm feeling out of bounds, out of bounds_

_I'm running out of time, out of time_

_I know there's no such thing as either of them_

_But it doesn't make me feel any better_

**A/N: Hi guys I'm not dead! Sorry for taking so long to update….I know I'm a terrible person… In case you were wondering the lyrics are from Adolescents by Incubus. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or requests – review! If you do you'll get free cake! Song suggestions are much appreciated too!**


	3. Chapter 3

IVY'S POV

I slammed the bedroom door shut and yelled in frustration. The lights flickered slightly at the surge of emotion before sputtering out.

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! _

I flopped down onto my bed and buried my face in the pillow, letting the glamour slide off me. _How could I be so stupid? _ I flipped onto my back and stared at the ceiling, shadows danced across its blank surface as the trees guarding the window swayed in the soft breeze. Everything was still, except for the beating of my heart. The early autumn night was hot, my room was so stuffy that everything felt sticky and warped, like ice cream sagging into the bottom of a sundae glass, but I refused to open a window. I didn't want to move. I needed to change plans urgently, things were slipping away from me, soon my opportunity would pass and I'd have to wait for revenge again. I couldn't wait now, I wouldn't, not after so long. I needed to remember what they had done to me. I needed to switch off my emotions.

I sat up suddenly, my eyes alight and an evil grin on my face. That was it! I knew how to get my revenge. I knew how to kill a dragon, but I also knew something else that no other living being knew; how to raise dragons from their slumber and how to control them. I closed my eyes. Everything was going to be fine, nothing could go wrong.

I grabbed my bag and leapt off the bed, all I needed now were some supplies.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The club was dark, fake smoke hung in the air from the fog machines in the corners, mixing in with cigar smoke. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was home. A song blasted through the speakers, the bass turned so high that everything vibrated in time to the beat. I was in the belly of a beast. A half smile slid onto my face as I pushed through the mass of people. For once I wasn't Ivy: feared and hated by everyone, constantly on the run, I was just another person, another body. I was insignificant.

I worked my way to the bar and sat down on one of the cracked leather stools. The bartender was at the far end, trying too hard to come off as cool. I could tell from here that he was nothing but a cocky witch from Circle Midnight.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, leaning against the bar.

"Can I speak to Shade?" I asked quietly.

His eyebrows shot up for an instant, before drawing back down over his eyes. "I don't know who you're talking about."

I stood up and leaned forward over the bar. "Oh, but I'm sure you do," I murmured, letting my glamour slip off long enough for him to see my true self.

I saw myself in the bartender's eyes reflected. Gold chased the fake blue in my eyes for a second before settling down as the main colour. For a second I let my glamour drop completely, my hair darkened and straightened out going its true raven black, before I concealed myself again. I saw shock, then disbelief on the bartender's face. No one had as much undiluted power as I did. Not anymore, the people who were my equals had died a long time ago. He stared at me in awe for a moment before shaking himself out of his stupor.

"Who are you?" his voice was strangled and slightly too high.

I smiled slyly, knowing that talking to Shade would no longer be a problem. "I think you know."

He shook his head again and slid away a bit. "Impossible," he whispered, "You went missing years ago...we all thought you were dead."

"But I'm not and I'm not planning on going anywhere for a while. Now let me speak to Shade."

He inclined his head slightly and I smiled as he opened up the bar and let me slip past him. Mission accomplished.

COUGAR'S POV

The club was dark with coloured strobe lights flashing everywhere. People flickered in and out of view, illuminated for a millisecond before being plunged into darkness. The smell of sweat and alcohol perfumed the air, as another unrecognisable song pumped out of the speakers, the bass distorting everything. I sat just outside of the perfectly ordered chaos in one of the red leather booths that ringed the walls of the club; for once I was alone to enjoy the scene in front of me. This was it, my very own playground.

The light changed colour, going from deep red to white as it circled the dance floor, illuminating a familiar blond head. She didn't belong, I could tell this instantly. She was ridiculously out of place, dancers twisted around and around in bright coloured short dresses, but she was dark and completely covered. I frowned and focused in on her. _Where did I recognise her from? _ At that moment she tossed her hair out of her face in an impatient gesture, before the crowd shifted and she was swallowed up by it. But I didn't care, I barely registered it.

Only one thing occupied my mouth at that moment, only one question.

_How the hell did she get in here?_

I ran a hand through my hair, something I only did when I was nervous and ripped my phone out of my pocket and dialled the first number I could think of.

JACK'S POV 

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as I waited for Cougar to leave the club and get in the car. I didn't understand why he'd phoned _me _of all people to pick him up at this time, we hadn't talked since –

I broke off that thought before it could hurt me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. _Focus, _I told myself. I couldn't afford to have another mental break down right now. I tapped at the steering wheel and turned to look at the club. A tacky neon sign hung precariously over one side of the entrance, almost blocking the back entrance to the club where black lines swirled to form the black iris that marked it as a vampire club.

I shook my head in disgust. I'd only been to a club like that once and I was never going back. Clubs like that were filled with masses of dancing bodies and humans who were so drunk they didn't object to being used as blood banks. I glanced back at the clock. If he didn't come out in the next two minutes, I was leaving. I didn't even know why I'd come, it wasn't like we were friends. Not anymore.

I blinked and refocused on the club in front of me. The neon sign flickered and a group of girls wearing skirts which were way too short stumbled out of the club, drunk. I sighed; _tonight was going to be fun_. _Not._ I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes. I would wait for five more minutes, for old times' sake, and then I was out of here and nothing would stop me. I set an alarm on my phone and went to sleep.

**A/N: hey guys!**

**Sorry if this is a bit short...but I figured you'd rather short and sweet than a really long one and no update for ages. Anyway what do you think? Drop me a review and make me smile! Like this: :D :D :D :D :D So yeah review?**


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